It’s becoming crystal clear that Hapoel Tel Aviv is looking better and better each and every day under their new head coach Dimitrios Itoudis. The Reds are melding into a well-oiled machine in the Israeli league as each player in the squad is understanding their role and what is expected of them in addition to what Itoudis can expect from them on the court.

The puzzle is far from complete but as each game that goes by and each day of practice that is put in the books, Hapoel is improving and their play is much more fluid than what it has been just a few weeks ago.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not and Itoudis has plenty of work to do in order to get this team into the position of winning the EuroCup as well as the Israeli league.

Perhaps one of the reasons why the team is beginning to jell the way the Greek maestro would like to see it is because he has been going with the same 5 import players the past couple of games in the Israeli league which limits the participation of foreigners. Another reason why the team is looking more like a team is because the Reds also finally registered Joe Ragland for the Israeli games as he is the only “true” point guard that the club has in service. Add to that Jonathan Motley returning to the team and boy does Hapoel have some serious tools to work with.

Sure Yam Madar, Marcus Foster, Antonio Blakeney, Bar Timor and Noam Yaacov are all fine talents, but they are not floor generals in the true sense of the word. Ragland, who has played in Israel in the past and also helped Hapoel Holon win a league title is a think pass first and score second player. Of course, that’s not to say he can’t put the ball in the hoop, he can and he can do so consistently.

In a recent game against Maccabi Ramat Gan, Hapoel struggled to break away throughout the first 25 minutes of the contest, but when Ragland came in with 5:27 left in the third quarter and the score just 58-55 for the Reds, the tide turned very, very quickly. Itoudis’s team quickly bumped the score up to double digits as they then cruised to the 91-82 victory.

It looked as simple as 1-2-3.

However, that was not the case explained the bench boss following the game that he in fact was not happy with Ragland and quickly took him to task for his lack of defense, “I’m not going to be gentle like I am not gentle with any player of ours. With Joe and he knows why he was substituted early on and he gave a bad tone to the team. He and Marcus [Foster] they played very sloppy defensively and gave a bad tone.”

“When they checked back in they did some great things, but you can’t do things offensively when you don’t have the mindset to make stops especially against a team that can really score the ball,” Itoudis continued. “Joe has experience, we talked a lot and he took it upon himself and he has a sports ego and a high level of competitiveness inside of him. He played better defense because they are super aggressive and he also scored a lot of baskets. He has a quality to drive the ball to the basket and create for the bigs and for the kick outs and for the spot up shooters.”

Ragland was in the starting lineup and definitely shared a number of words, perhaps even more than a number of words with Itoudis and came out of the game with Hapoel ahead 18-17 with 2:47 left in the period. From there, the 35-year old year old came back on with 2:28 remaining in the first half with the Reds up 45-37.

 
The next time Ragland saw the floor was midway through the third frame and that was that as the point guard finally helped his team build up a double figures lead.

Itoudis is not going to baby his players and he’s not going to give any of them a break. He wants to see 1000% focus, determination and drive from each one of his players. If he gets this, then he can go to sleep saying to himself that he did everything within his power to get the Reds to the Promised Land. The coach is unlike any of other bench boss that has come to Israel and there’s a reason why he has won a pair of Euroleague championships and was a part of Zeljko Obradovic’s staff for so many years which saw him collect one trophy after the next.
 
One can not look at Itoudis in the same light and style as former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos just because they are both from Greece. It’s like saying Oded Katash and Danny Franco are one and the same and they are certainly not.

 
Itoudis is unique and brings his own flavor to his team and with that he was able to coax Jonathan Motley to return after he had left for a month and change with rumors abound that he was signing with Red Star for a bigger contract.
 
Before the big man had departed the team last month, he was so dominant and critical for his team but he also needed to find his happy zone which seems to be happening now, slowly but surely upon his return. Motley is so flexible as a player and can do it all that he is without question an MVP candidate both in Israel and in the EuroCup.

Having #0 on the court is a game breaker for Itoudis and he knows it, “Jonathan is great for us. You can’t stop him. He’s very smart and doesn’t force himself on the game. I’m happy he was good on defense, not just rebounding and he put in an effort. He’s not 100% yet, but he’s close.”

 
Captain Bar Timor also spoke about Motley and what he brings to the team as he was welcomed back with open arms, “It’s great to have him with us and we have many ways to use him. He can pass, score from the midrange, there’s a way to use him and we know how to do it. It’s great that he’s with us and makes us better.”
 
Hapoel Tel Aviv is somewhat a team with an embarrassment of riches with plenty of players both imports and Israelis who can make an impact on any game whether it be in the domestic league or in Europe.

Last week Yam Madar was out with a minor groin issue, both Marcus Bingham and Ish Wainright weren’t able to be registered to play in the Israeli league due to the foreigner limitation in the local league while Noam Yaacov is out for a while with an injury as well and Patrick Beverley just retuned to the Holy Land as he is rehabbing from an injury as well.

However, in this weekend’s game which resulted in a tough 79-64 victory for Hapoel over Galil Elyon, Madar was back in the lineup as were both Bingham and Wainright ahead of what is a pivotal game at Gran Canaria in the EuroCup later in the week. (Just prior to Hapoel departing for Spain the club issued a statement saying that Bingham is suffering from pericarditis, which is usually caused by a viral illness. He is currently sidelined and will be re-evaluated in ten days.)

Madar was not only back, he was better than ever with a 17-point and 11 assist double-double performance.

“That was a professional win,” Itoudis commented. “We won by 15 on the road. That’s another good message that we need to improve and work a lot and that is why we have a lot of players who are in the bench where we can find the right chemistry and at that certain moment they can run better than the others. It happened when Joe Ragland came off the bench against Ramat Gan when he gave leverage to our team and gave us a boost, that is the advantage that we have to try and find with the right lineup.”

Players coming in and players going on of the lineup for Itoudis is no doubt a very big challenge and he’s going to have to figure out how all of these pieces will come together. For the head coach he does have some problems that can be described as those of the wealthy with a plethora of players available, but that’s also why he is a great coach and one that understands that there is going to be a lot of trial and error. With that, there’s no reason to think that he won’t succeed and it will be super interesting to see how he wades through the problems and issues that he will encounter along the way.

“This game will help us a lot because we didn’t all of a sudden become a super team because we won three games or four or five,” the head coach explained. “It’s a process and we have to compete everyday and improve. As for Gran Canaria, we are talking about a team that won the EuroCup recently and they have the same coaching staff and core for the past 4-5 years. That’s how you build a team. They beat Valencia which is a very good team in the EuroCup and they are one of leading teams in the Spanish league. They play big and it will be tough and that’s why we are here, for the tough things. This why the game against Galil will help us especially for this game coming up.”

All in all, Hapoel Tel Aviv is really starting to fall into line as to the way Itoudis wants to see them. It will no doubt take time but they are on the right path for success, “We are trying lots of things and we are very optimistic.”